The Cardinals, who won only five of their first 25 games of the season, completed an amazing comeback by taking over first place in the Eastern Division with a 5-4 victory over the Dodgers. The triumph moved the Redbirds one-half game ahead of the Cubs, who lost to the Giants. Since their bad start, the Cardinals had won 46 games and lost only 25 for an overall record of 51-45.

With players from the 1933 All-Star Game and other All-Stars on hand for a reunion, the Cardinals rallied for three runs in the eighth inning to gain their victory over the Dodgers. Ted Sizemore singled with one out and was forced by Luis Melendez. Joe Torre doubled, Melendez stopping at third. Ted Simmons singled, driving in two runs to tie the score, and took second on a fumble of the hit by Willie Davis. Bernie Carbo then doubled to drive in the first-place run. [The Sporting News]



St. Louis Cardinals 5, Los Angeles Dodgers 4
Game Played on Sunday, July      22, 1973 (Day game) at Busch Stadium II
Dodgers      1  0  0    1  0  0    0  2  0  -   4  8  2
Cardinals    0  0  0    0  1  1    0  3  x  -   5  9  4


Dodgers              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Cardinals            AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Lopes 2b              4   1   2   0     1   1   .299      Brock lf              4   1   1   0     0   2   .285
Buckner lf            4   1   0   0     0   1   .273      Sizemore 2b           4   0   2   1     0   1   .285
  Mota ph             1   0   1   1     0   0   .351      McCarver 1b           2   0   0   0     1   0   .239
  Brewer p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .400        Folkers p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .091
  John p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .143        Segui p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Davis cf              3   0   1   0     2   0   .302        Melendez ph         1   1   0   0     0   0   .260
Ferguson c            5   0   1   0     0   1   .281        Hrabosky p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Crawford rf           2   0   1   0     2   0   .310      Torre 3b,1b           4   1   1   0     0   1   .298
  Cey ph              1   0   0   0     0   1   .266      Simmons c             4   1   1   2     0   0   .284
Garvey 1b             5   1   0   0     0   3   .315      Carbo rf              4   1   3   1     0   1   .263
McMullen 3b           5   0   1   1     0   1   .275      J. Cruz cf            4   0   1   1     0   1   .224
Russell ss            4   0   0   0     0   1   .291      Tyson ss              3   0   0   0     0   1   .242
Messersmith p         2   0   1   0     1   1   .222      Cleveland p           1   0   0   0     0   1   .300
  Paciorek ph,lf      0   1   0   0     1   0   .225        Dwyer ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .193
                                                            Reitz 3b            1   0   0   0     0   0   .230

Totals               36   4   8   2     7  10             Totals               33   5   9   5     1   8

Time of Game: 2:29   Attendance: 41,879
Left on Base: Dodgers 12, Cardinals 5
DP: Dodgers 0, Cardinals 0
Errors: Davis, Messersmith, Brock, McCarver, Carbo, Cleveland
Doubles: McMullen (3), J. Cruz (18), Torre (11), Carbo (6)


Dodgers                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Messersmith             7     5   2   2   1   6   0  27   3.22
Brewer L(4-3)           0.2   4   3   2   0   1   0   6   2.01
John                    0.1   0   0   0   0   1   0   1   2.82
Totals                  8     9   5   4   1   8   0  34

Cardinals              IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Cleveland               6     5   2   1   5   8   0  29   3.15
Folkers                 1.2   2   2   1   1   1   0   8   1.99
Segui W(4-3)            0.1   1   0   0   1   0   0   3   2.58
Hrabosky SV(1)          1     0   0   0   0   1   0   3   2.14
Totals                  9     8   4   2   7  10   0  43

Umpires: HP - Bill Williams, 1B - Dick Stello, 2B - Jerry Dale, 3B - Tom Gorman


DODGERS 1ST: Lopes grounded out (shortstop to first); Buckner
reached on an error by McCarver [Buckner to first]; Davis
singled to right [Buckner scored (error by Carbo) (unearned) (no
RBI), Davis to second]; Ferguson struck out; Crawford walked;
Garvey struck out; 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 2 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 1,
Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 1ST: Brock grounded out (first to pitcher); Sizemore
struck out; McCarver flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Dodgers 1, Cardinals 0.

DODGERS 2ND: McMullen struck out; Russell struck out;
Messersmith singled to center; Lopes struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Dodgers 1, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 2ND: Torre struck out; Simmons grounded out (second to
first); Carbo struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 1,
Cardinals 0.

DODGERS 3RD: Buckner struck out; Davis grounded out (third to
first); Ferguson flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Dodgers 1, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 3RD: J. Cruz flied out to left; Tyson struck out;
Cleveland was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Dodgers 1, Cardinals 0.

DODGERS 4TH: Crawford singled to left; Garvey forced Crawford
(shortstop to second); McMullen doubled to left [Garvey scored];
Russell popped to shortstop; Messersmith struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 2, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 4TH: Brock struck out; Sizemore popped to shortstop;
McCarver popped to third in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Dodgers 2, Cardinals 0.

DODGERS 5TH: Lopes singled to left; Lopes was picked off first
but was safe on an error by Cleveland [Lopes to third]; Buckner
lined to second; Davis was walked intentionally; Ferguson
reached on a fielder's choice [Lopes out at home (pitcher to
third to catcher), Davis to third, Ferguson to second]; Crawford
was walked intentionally; Garvey struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 3
LOB.  Dodgers 2, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 5TH: Torre grounded out (second to first); Simmons
lined to first; Carbo singled to shortstop; J. Cruz doubled to
left [Carbo scored]; Tyson grounded out (second to first); 1 R,
2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 2, Cardinals 1.

DODGERS 6TH: McMullen popped to first in foul territory; Russell
popped to shortstop in foul territory; Messersmith walked; Lopes
walked [Messersmith to second]; Buckner flied out to left; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 2, Cardinals 1.

CARDINALS 6TH: DWYER BATTED FOR CLEVELAND; Dwyer flied out to
right; Brock singled to shortstop; Brock was picked off first
but was safe on an error by Messersmith [Brock to third];
Sizemore singled to center [Brock scored]; McCarver walked
[Sizemore to second]; Torre flied out to center; Simmons lined
to second; 1 R, 2 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 2, Cardinals 2.

DODGERS 7TH: REITZ REPLACED DWYER (PLAYING 3B); TORRE CHANGED
POSITIONS (PLAYING 1B); FOLKERS REPLACED MCCARVER (PITCHING);
Davis popped to first; Ferguson singled to left; Crawford popped
to shortstop; Garvey struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers
2, Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 7TH: Carbo singled to left; J. Cruz grounded out
(first unassisted) [Carbo to second]; Tyson grounded out
(shortstop to first) [Carbo to third]; Reitz flied out to
center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 2, Cardinals 2.

DODGERS 8TH: McMullen grounded out (third to first); Russell
grounded out (third to first); PACIOREK BATTED FOR MESSERSMITH;
Paciorek walked; Lopes singled to left [Paciorek to second];
MOTA BATTED FOR BUCKNER; SEGUI REPLACED FOLKERS (PITCHING); Mota
singled to left [Paciorek scored, Lopes scored (error by Brock)
(unearned) (no RBI), Mota to second]; Davis was walked
intentionally; Ferguson flied out to right; 2 R (1 ER), 2 H, 1
E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 4, Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 8TH: PACIOREK STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); BREWER
REPLACED MOTA (PITCHING); Brock struck out; Sizemore singled to
left; MELENDEZ BATTED FOR SEGUI; Melendez forced Sizemore (third
to second); Torre doubled to left [Melendez to third]; Simmons
singled to center [Melendez scored, Torre scored, Simmons to
second (error by Davis)]; Carbo doubled to left [Simmons scored
(unearned)]; JOHN REPLACED BREWER (PITCHING); J. Cruz struck
out; 3 R (2 ER), 4 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 4, Cardinals 5.

DODGERS 9TH: HRABOSKY REPLACED MELENDEZ (PITCHING); CEY BATTED
FOR CRAWFORD; Cey struck out; Garvey flied out to right;
McMullen grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Dodgers 4, Cardinals 5.